RIYADH, Aug 2: Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd was buried in a simple unmarked grave on Tuesday after a brief funeral where Muslim leaders mourned the monarch who ruled a global oil giant for two turbulent decades. In keeping with the kingdom’s austere Islamic tradition, King Fahd, who in life enjoyed enormous wealth and privilege, was laid to rest in a sprawling public cemetery in Riyadh alongside hundreds of other unidentified dirt graves.

King Fahd died on Monday after 23 years ruling the strategic Gulf state which is both the world’s biggest oil exporter and the cradle of Islam. In the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in the capital, Muslim leaders from across the world joined ordinary Saudis and King Fahd’s successor and half-brother Abdullah to perform the funeral prayers.

The brief afternoon ceremony was devoid of pomp. King Fahd’s body, wrapped in a brown shroud and laid on a bier, was carried out of the mosque and driven to his final resting place in an ambulance. Hundreds of security forces mixed with mourners in the mosque and snipers were posted around the cemetery.”

Abdullah has run day-to-day affairs since King Fahd’s stroke and is expected to maintain Saudi Arabia’s commitment to stable oil markets and its close alliance with the West. After the funeral King Abdullah accepted condolences and expressions of support at one of the royal palaces in Riyadh.

NO MOURNING: Unlike many Muslim states, Saudi Arabia has set no mourning period, in keeping with Wahhabi acceptance of God’s will without question. Saudi flags, emblazoned with the proclamation of faith “There is no God but Allah”, flew at full mast.